Former Congress lawmakers from western Uttar Pradesh Harendra Malik and Pankaj Malik joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday. They resigned from the Congress party earlier this month.
The induction is expected to now boost the SP’s chances in western Uttar Pradesh after it got into an alliance with Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) in the eastern part of the state.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav attended a rally of the SBSP in Mau along with SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar.
Harendra Malik and Pankaj Malik joined the SP at the party headquarters in Lucknow in presence of Yadav.
Former lawmakers Salim Shervani and Anu Tandon have been among other former Congress lawmakers who have joined the SP in the run to the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The elections are due early next year for 403 seats.
The defections have come even as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been very active in Uttar Pradesh to revive the party, which has been out of power in the state for over three decades.